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cider taste in my homebrew

Hello everyone,
I'm new to the art of brewing beer, and so far, all of the beer I've brewed has a cider taste to it. Wether I go from homebrew kits (i.e. Coopers, Geordie, etc) or from using kits that don't require any sugar additions (all grain kits), the end result is either a sweet tasting or plainly cider-like beer. I even started utilizing non-hopped malt extracts, that require the boiling of hops and grain malts additions, with liquid 'Brewer's Yeast' with a better result, but still with that cider taste.

Don't know what to do. Any advice on how I could create a blonde beer that does not taste like limonaid?

Off the cuff, I can suggest two things, sugar and water.
1) white table sugar can cause a cidery flavor (if you're using it)
2) Blonde beer is very difficult, as the water properties can be more noticable. You'll need to consult some homebrew books on water and compare your own water.
Good Luck.

Hello neo.
It sounds to me like you could have an acetaldehyde problem.
Factors that can lead to an increase in acetaldehyde:
Temperature increase during fermentation
Applying pressure during primary fermentation
Insufficcient wort aeration
Infected wort
Any one of these factors could be responsible.
In order to lose this flavor in your beer you will want to maintain a consistent primary fermentation temperature ( depending on the style of beer Ales vs Lagers).
Make sure your vessels are properly vented so that the co2 can escape.
Consider your aeration method and see if it can't be improved.
And be sure to practice extreme cleanliness.

kdonohue10 and vigs

Thanks for the response guys! For the record, I only use corn sugar (liquid or powder), changed detergents, went to open primary fermentation; the only thing I haven't check is the properties of the bottled water I buy (changed supplier twice also!).

Could it be linked with the fact that I use malt extracts? One of the all-grain kits I've tried is the Brewhouse, where you only need to add water. No better!!

Hello,
Your biggest mistake is using corn sugar. That may have been appropriate back in the day but, now you have better options. Light Dry Malt Extract would be better - but will lead to a fuller flavoured beer.
Your yeast go in and blitz out on the corn sugar, fermenting away quickly, but not quite like they should. A brew with more fermentables derived from malt will provide a more round flavour with less off taste. Temperature control is key in the case of your beer.
The other thing is, if you're using malt tins that are more than a year from production - which is entirely possible given the shipping distances of Geordie & Coopers - your fermentables will suffer for it. The malt extract does not like being canned - a reaction occurs that causes more and more of the malt sugars to be unfermentable while the malt sits on the shelf.
Being formerly employed in a shop that sold Brewhouse kits, I can safely say that they're wonderful stuff. Take that with whatever grain of salt you want, but they're consistent & ferment very well due to being an All-Grain Wort. Check the Batch code on the beer style sticker before purchase. If you call the people at RJ Spagnol's, they'll arm you with the info you need to purchase those kits FRESH (as close to the packing date as possible).

That said, corn sugar is great for bottling - you get a quick complete re-ferment in the bottle. And at 3/4 - 1 cup - you'd be hard pressed to taste it in the brew.

When you say "I only use corn sugar " or "I used proper dextrose", do you mean in the wort itself during fermentation, or as a priming sugar for bottle conditioning? I've seen homebrew kits that specify adding non-malt sugars during fermentation, but you won't get a good result from that approach.

As a priming sugar, it shouldn't be a problem.

I agree with kdonohue10 and rudge75 that fresh ingredients, good aeration, sanitation and temperature control are things that'll make or break your beer.